Strange Bedfellows
by Bob Lobster
Summary: A lengthy period of time passed while Ranma searched for Herb in an effort to regain his manhood. Surely he didn't spend the whole time travelling.


Strange Bedfellows  
A Ranma Fanfiction  
By Bob Lobster  
  
  
Disclaimer:Why do we even bother with disclaimers anyway? Who would  
sue a fanfiction writer?  
  
Chapter One  
  
*Sigh* The girl sighed once more, for the innumerable time in the  
past hour. She'd been in the same position for that entire time, and  
loathing every moment of it. Reaching one delicate hand into the pail  
at her side, she pulled a large potato out, at the same time picking  
up a small paring knife with the other hand. Sighing again, she  
brushed a few dark green strands of hair out of her face, pushing them  
over her ear to meet up with the rest of the streak, which ran down  
the side of her face. She smirked a bit, recalling the reaction her  
mother had when she had originally dyed the green streaks into either  
side of her face in her otherwise dark brown hair. Then she sighed  
once more realizing that was probably part of the reason she was here  
in the first place. Bringing the knife up to the vegetable in her  
hand, she meticulously began removing it's skin. Once done she threw  
the now-skinless potato into a water-filled pail to her right, before  
reaching once again into the seeming bottomless pail of them on her  
left.  
  
Glancing at the pile of unskinned potatoes on her left, she sighed  
once again and threw a dirty look at the one in her hand. Putting down  
both knife and potato she gave one last defeated sigh before letting  
her head fall into her hands. After a few contemplative moments, she  
allowed herself to express her feelings verbally. "It's not fair."  
  
The older woman standing a few feet from her turned a kindly eye  
to the girl, shaking her head a bit at the girl's rather melodramatic  
attitude, before speaking up. "I know you don't like it, Megumi dear,  
but it's not that bad. You're making a little extra money, aren't  
you?"  
  
"Yeah, I know that Mrs. Takani, and I appreciate the money, but do  
I really need to be spending so much time doing something this  
tedious. If they gave me a decent job to do, it wouldn't be so bad,  
but I've been peeling vegetables every weekend for weeks now." Megumi  
shook her head a bit before picking the potato and knife back up again  
and continuing with her pealing. "It's not that I've ever done  
anything bad, why the hell do I need to learn 'discipline'?"  
  
"I know, dear, but your parents don't see it that way. They see  
you being 'rebellious' and think that they have to work it out of  
you." The woman lays down the knife she was using on the fish before  
her and walks the short distance to Megumi. Putting a hand on the  
girl's shoulder, she smiles down on the younger girl and rubs her  
shoulder in a comforting fashion. "You know they're just doing what  
they think is best for you."  
  
Megumi looks up at the older woman with frustration clear on her  
face. "But it's not like I'm doing drugs or something, it was just  
some hair dye."  
  
"And the navel ring." Mrs. Takani reminded her with a bit of a  
mischievous grin on her face. The younger woman gives her a baleful  
glare before sighing melodramatically.  
  
"And the navel ring. Honestly, you'd think they'd never seen a  
piercing before." She moved her shirt up slightly to see the small  
dragon-shaped piercing in her belly button. A smile graced her  
features as she flicked the ring lightly with her finger, making it  
jump a bit. "And it really does look good on me."  
  
Mrs. Takani laughed lightly at the girl's attitude, walking back  
over to where she had been working previously. As she began slicing  
the fish up once more, she continued with her conversation with the  
younger girl. "It does indeed look very good on you, dear, you won't  
hear me say any different. Your parents, however, still see it as some  
sort of rebellion, a sign that you're not the perfect, demure and  
lady-like girl that we were all raised to be. You know they don't mean  
to hurt you, just acting the way they were taught."  
  
"I know, and you're right, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy  
it any more. I mean, pealing potatoes? Isn't that, like, a punishment  
in some places?" Megumi shook her head again, allowing her shirt to  
fall back in place. She reached out to where she'd left the knife and  
began her hated task once more. "It wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't  
insisted that Grandpa give me the most menial job possible."  
  
"Look on the bright side, dear, it's not every girl who gets  
constant access to an onsen." The older woman stated cheerily,  
attempting to alleviate the heavy mood that her young co-worker seemed  
determined to stay in.  
  
"Yeah, but I could do that anyway. I mean, Grandpa owns the place,  
so I could come here anytime I want and not have to spend most of my  
time pealing potatoes and carrots and anything else they can stick in  
front of me." Megumi knew that the woman was trying to bring her mood  
up, but was determined to wallow in self-pity for a while. Everyone  
deserved to once in a while when they got a raw deal in life, and she  
was determined to take it for as much sympathy as she could get. In  
reality, she did appreciate the open-air baths, and she loved having  
the extra money, but she would have much rather gone without and got  
to spend the weekend hanging out with her friends then being here.  
"Besides, I'm a teenage girl, I should be out at the mall, hanging out  
with my friends and ogling boys not stuck here doing a kitchen's dirty  
work. The best years of my life are slipping away from me."  
  
Mrs. Takani smiled again at the girl's antics, remembering how  
melodramatic she was at that age. Although, the girl did have a point,  
she should be able to spend some time with someone her own age as  
opposed to the older women that worked in the kitchens. "How about  
that new girl your Grandfather hired. Perhaps you could make friends  
with her."  
  
"New girl? I don't remember anyone mentioning someone new." This  
was somewhat odd to Megumi since she was usually in the know of all  
gossip going around the place. One had to keep occupied where one  
could, and that was the best source of amusement around. Although, she  
had only gotten here a couple of hours ago, and had only really been  
working with Mrs. Takani, who wasn't as interested in gossip as the  
other girls, during that time. The girl must have been hired during  
the week, while she was at her parents' house attending school.  
  
"Oh yes, I suppose you haven't had a chance to met her yet, have  
you. She's quite the charming young lady. A little on the rough side  
but she seems to have a good heart." She thought back to her only  
meeting with the young lady who had begun work at the Inn a few nights  
before. She had been a bit lacking in knowledge of manners, but seemed  
to be trying to remain polite. She'd had such a sad look in her eyes  
though; perhaps making friends with Megumi would do her some good.  
"She's the same age as you, as well, and seemed a bit out of place.  
Perhaps she could use a friend here as much as you could."  
  
"Hmmm, perhaps I'll meet her later. It'd be nice to have someone  
to hang out with when I'm not being tortured." Megumi noticed that  
Mrs. Takani let the slightly disgruntled comment go before continuing.  
"What was the new girl's name, anyway?"  
  
"I believe it was Ranma. A bit of a strange name, especially for a  
girl, but it seems to fit her rather well for some reason." Mrs.  
Takani considered her own words for a few moments, wondering where the  
observation had come from, before dismissing it from her mind. People  
said she was a good judge of character, perhaps it was merely her  
intuition getting the better of her. "She's a pretty young girl, with  
bright red hair. You definitely can't miss her."  
  
Megumi merely mumbled off-handedly, lost in thought about this  
newest development. *Ranma. I wonder what she's like.*  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Ranma sighed to herself, leaning back against the wall behind  
her. She had just delivered another stack of dirty dishes from the  
main dinning room of the inn to the kitchen in the back and needed a  
moment to regain her mental focus before going back out on the floor.  
She'd only been working here for a few days and it was already  
beginning to grate on her nerves. It was bad enough that she had to be  
travelling in the first place, on a desperate mission that she  
couldn't afford to fail, but she had to have brought to moron twins  
with her.  
  
Not that she didn't appreciate Mousse and Ryoga coming with her,  
the idea of going on such a long trip by herself made even them a  
welcomed addition. She was also grateful that the two of them had  
actually offered their help in retrieving the Kaisuifu, the mysterious  
kettle which had the power to unlock her curse, allowing her to be a  
man again. The battle with Herb was going to be a difficult one, and  
she was very happy to have backup on this one. Normally she would be  
upset at the thought of anyone helping her in a fight, but the stakes  
were far to high on this one for any such bravado to remain. If it  
meant getting her manhood back, she would gladly use any advantage she  
could get. No, the real reason she was upset at having brought the two  
was that she had forgotten just how stupid the two of them could be.  
Two days into their little trip, Mousse had mistaken his backpack for  
a large Tanuki statue, something only Mousse could manage with his bad  
eyesight, and lost all their money and the map they needed to find  
their destination.  
  
Which, of course, was why she was here in the first place. With no  
more money to travel and no real knowledge of where they were going,  
the three of them had begged jobs out of the kindly, old couple who  
ran the inn in order to make some money to continue their search.  
Hopefully, once they had made some travelling money, they could pick  
up the trail of Herb and his entourage before it was too late. The  
only good thing, it seemed, was that Herb planned on getting to the  
kettle on foot, whereas Ranma and company had taken a train right off  
the bat. This, presumably, put them a fair bit ahead of their  
adversaries, giving them ample time to replenish their cash supply  
before needing to set out again.  
  
They were actually quite lucky that they were able to get the jobs  
they did, and so quickly too. Although, at times, Ranma wondered if  
she should curse that same luck. Not that the job was bad, or even  
remotely difficult really - after working for the Old Ghoul Ranma was  
fully convinced that she could work anywhere with relative ease - but  
the constant stream of perverted old men trying to hit on her was  
really beginning to fray her nerves. That wasn't accounting for the  
ladies constantly complimenting her on what a lovely young lady she  
was. Frankly, the last thing Ranma ever wanted to be considered was a  
young lady, lovely or not, and having that fact constantly thrown back  
at her, whether they meant harm or not, was only adding to her  
melancholy mood.  
  
If she had anyone except Ryoga and Mousse to talk to it might have  
made the time seem a lot less monotonous, but she couldn't seem to  
hold a conversation with the two boys before one of them got into a  
huff about something, sometimes managing to set the other off as well.  
She knew, of course, that she could learn a bit of tact and had a  
habit of insulting people without really realizing it, but one would  
think that those two would have realized this by now. They should have  
known her long enough to know not to take everything she said  
seriously but they still managed to get upset when she stuck her foot  
in her mouth. For the majority of their journey thus far, this had led  
to Ranma more or less keeping to herself in an effort to curb her bad  
habits and keep the peace. Unfortunately, the lack of conversation  
only lent to Ranma's already heavy sense of loneliness and depression  
at her situation.  
  
Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts, Ranma looked up at  
the clock and smiled a bit, realizing that her shift was essentially  
over. A little clean up and she'd be able to take off back to the  
campsite for the night. Not that the sparse conversation she'd get  
back there would really help improve her mood much, but it was better  
than having to laugh at stupid jokes and put up with old men and their  
flirting. At least they seemed to be a lot less perverted than the  
average male in Nerima, keeping their flirting to a verbal level and  
not trying to feel her up at all. She didn't think she'd be able to  
weather that without breaking a few heads, an act that would get them  
fired pretty quickly.  
  
She shook her head once more, banishing all thoughts of perverts,  
as she cleaned up the tables in her section of the restaurant. Perhaps  
she'd get one of the boys to spar with her tonight, a bit of fighting  
always seemed to clear her mind and lift her spirits. As long as they  
managed to keep it at a light spar, that is.  
  
She cleared off the last of her tables before heading back into  
the kitchen to tell the head cook that she was all done for the night.  
Mrs. Okita was a kindly elderly lady who was probably one of the best  
cooks Ranma had ever met. She also treated Ranma like a beloved  
grandchild, something she seemed to do for everyone, and Ranma adored  
the old lady immediately. She had never known her own grandparents but  
she very much would have hoped they were like Mrs. Okita. Feeling  
slightly better after her brief interaction with the lady, Ranma  
changed out of her work cloths and headed in the direction of the  
nearby store to grab a few snacks before she headed back to the  
campsite. They were tight on money and she knew she should save  
everything she made, but the day had been particularly long and Ranma  
decided that she deserved a bit of chocolate for her efforts.  
  
She was just enjoying the cool night air as she made her way to  
the small store a few blocks from the inn when the sound of a scuffle  
in an ally off of the main road caught her attention. Curiousity  
getting the better of her, Ranma made her way over to the entrance to  
the ally only to meet up with a scene which caused her blood to boil  
in anger. Partway down the ally four boys stood, local thugs it looked  
like, well-dressed enough for Ranma to tell that they weren't lacking  
in money and obviously weren't here for any other reason than their  
sick sense of fun. The object of their attention was a young woman,  
about Ranma's own age, pushed up against the wall of the ally, one  
thug's hand held over her mouth to kept her from screaming while two  
of his buddies held her arms pinned. The girl herself was moderately  
tall, taller than Ranma was as a girl but slightly shorter than he  
would be as a guy, with long brown hair that seemed to have two dark  
green streaks in it. She was thrashing wildly, trying to escape the  
hold the men had on her and her eyes were wild with terror, something  
that made Ranma even angrier than she already was. Quickly evaluating  
the situation, Ranma moved rapidly towards the boys, yelling out a  
challenge to take their attention away from the girl they held.  
  
"You bastards wanna pick on someone, try picking on me!"  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Well, against all odds, her day had gotten worse. Finally being  
released from the hellhole she called work, Megumi had decided that  
she had a serious need for caffeine. The only cure for a craving of  
such power: Dr Pepper. Megumi absolutely lived for the stuff, having  
trouble going through a day without a fix. She knew that this made her  
sound like a junkie sometimes, god knows her friends had made fun of  
her about it on more occasions than she could recall, but she couldn't  
help it. The stuff was the manna of the gods.  
  
Unfortunately, despite her best efforts to convince them, her  
grandparents had yet to start selling Dr Pepper at the inn itself and  
she was forced to walk to the nearby convenience store to get her  
supply. It was an annoyance to be sure, but one she was willing to  
shoulder for the sake of her cravings.  
  
The walk to the store was only about 5 minutes at most, but it did  
pass by several rather well shadowed alleys on the way, something that  
had never really bothered her before today. On this occasion, however,  
Megumi discovered the intrinsic danger to darkened alleys: street  
thugs. Not being much of a problem in the smaller town setting, Megumi  
had never bothered to watch for such annoyances before, but the four  
boys residing within the alley quickly managed to grab her attention.  
  
When rough hands grabbed ahold of her, Megumi's first response was  
to scream. This, however, was cut off before it could begin by a  
stifling hand clamping down on her mouth, muffling the scream into a  
loud mumble, something that would barely be heard ten feet from her.  
As her attackers entered her line of vision and she realized the  
predicament that she was in, Megumi's eyes widened in terror and she  
began to struggle much harder than she had been, briefly managing to  
loosen the grip of the man holding her arms behind her back. Her  
struggles were halted quickly though when the one covering her mouth  
shoved her harshly against the wall of the alley, momentarily causing  
the other to loose his grip on her arms, before the were grabbed once  
more by the last two, one holding each arm firmly. The man covering  
her mouth, the tallest of the bunch, leaned in close to her and  
whispered softly in her ear.  
  
"It's alright, girly, you don't struggle and we'll try not to hurt  
you." He then raised his head away from her a bit and leered at her  
body, before bringing his eyes up to meet hers. "After all, we're only  
having a bit of fun. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too."  
  
The other three began chuckling at the man's words while Megumi's  
eyes widened a bit more and her breath started increasing in tempo,  
nearly to the point of hyperventilation in her terror. She began to  
thrash wildly, attempting to get away from the men who held her fast  
against the wall but to no avail. The men were quite a bit stronger  
than she was and escaping their grasp would prove impossible to  
someone in her position. She only hoped that someone would hear the  
commotion and come to her aid, something that seemed less likely by  
the moment. Just as she figured she was beaten though, she heard a  
yell from behind the men, and felt their grips loosen as it startled  
them.  
  
"You bastards wanna pick on someone, try picking on me!"  
  
All four of the boys looked in the direction the yell had  
originated from, the tall one releasing his grip on her mouth and  
which allowed her to see as well. What she saw wasn't exactly what she  
had been expecting. While the yell had definitely been feminine, she  
hadn't really expected to see such a tiny slip of a girl coming to  
challenge the four guys who were harassing her. The girl was short,  
for starters, a good four or five inches shorter than her and very  
slight of build in all areas except her chest, which seemed out of  
proportion with the rest of her. This seemed to be a fact that drew  
the boy's attention as well, as only the tall one was looking at the  
rest of her. She doubted the rest of them noticed anything else about  
her, even her bright red hair, something that flared her mind but in  
her current predicament she couldn't figure out why.  
  
At present the girl was walking rapidly towards them, seemingly  
totally at ease, though angry, with the situation despite the  
overwhelming odds against her. Megumi was about to shout for her to  
run when the tallest man spoke up first.  
  
"What's this, boys? We don't even have to go looking for chicks,  
they come to us." He chuckled lightly, followed by the other boys, as  
they observed the girl where she had stopped only a few feet from the  
closest of them. He smiled cruelly as he waved the others towards  
her. "Go bring her over with this one. But don't bruise her up too  
much, she's too pretty for that."  
  
At that proclamation, Megumi finally found her voice and yelled  
for the girl to run, but she only smirked a bit before cracking her  
knuckles and then putting her hands casually behind her back. The  
three boys moved towards her while the biggest turned back to Megumi  
for a moment in order to shut her up. He slammed her up against the  
wall, knocking the breath from her and causing her to fall to her  
knees, before turning back to his group. As the others reached the  
girl, though, his grin was replaced by a look of absolute shock.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Ranma mentally smiled as all the boys all turned their attention  
immediately to her, and consequently, her breasts. Disgusted as she  
was by the action, she knew that their instant shift of attention to  
her chest meant that they wouldn't take her seriously as an opponent,  
making this all that much easier a fight. She was a little impressed  
by the bigger one as he seemed able to drag his eyes from her  
endowments long enough to actually view her as a possible opponent,  
but then he opened his mouth and she was forced to stop herself from  
shaking her head at his stupidity. While Ranma would admit that her  
female form wasn't exactly intimidating, being more cute than anything  
else, anyone with any training should be able to see her skill by the  
way he moved, especially since she wasn't making any effort to hide  
it. The only thing she could do to make it more apparent was flare her  
aura, and she had no intention of scaring them off that quickly. They  
had to pay for attacking a girl, afterall. They had a lesson to learn.  
  
As the three guys started heading towards her, Ranma made a show  
of cracking her knuckles and putting her hands behind her back, making  
herself look as confident and at ease as possible. It drove people  
nuts, she loved it. The first one reached her and grabbed out at her,  
apparently thinking she was giving up by her casual attitude. She  
smirked a bit as she sidestepped him, driving her knee firmly in his  
gut and knocking the wind out of him. As his midsection stopped, the  
rest of the boy curled around Ranma's leg momentarily before she  
removed it, causing him to collapse on the ground. Stepping around  
him, she observed as the other two slowed a bit in their approach,  
obviously a little stunned by the ease with which she dispatched their  
friend, though still intent on taking her. They were going to be more  
cautious about it though.  
  
The second one came at her with a sloppy punch and Ranma almost  
cried at all the holes she saw in his defense. Instead she decided to  
make a point about maintaining a proper defense, and in a burst of  
speed struck out at every single one of them. After striking out so  
quickly that her hands blurred slightly, she stepped back a bit,  
allowing the man to crumple at her feet, unconscious before she had  
even stopped hitting him. This action brought the last of the three up  
short and he stopped his reckless assault in favour of a more  
organized approach. He dropped down into a stance and Ranma was almost  
impressed. Not that he was anywhere near her level, of course, but for  
a street thug he obviously had training.  
  
Still as impulsive as his friends, despite his newfound caution,  
the third one quickly went on the assault, darting in for a quick jab  
to the face, followed by a roundhouse kick for the midsection. The jab  
was dodged by a flick of Ranma's head to one side, while the kick was  
solidly blocked and caught in the crook of her arm. Stepping forward  
quickly, she brought her right leg behind his left while still holding  
his right leg up. Putting a hand on his face, Ranma shoved hard,  
pushing him off of his feet and sending his head smashing brutally  
into the pavement. Seeing he was unconscious, she released his leg,  
standing back up and looking over her fallen opponents. Seeing the  
first boy had recovered enough that he began to rise, she strolled  
casually over to him before kicking him in the side of the head and  
sending him after his friends into a forced slumber. She then turned  
her attention towards the leader.  
  
The largest of the bunch, he also appeared to be the smartest as  
he was quickly looking for a way to escape her wraith. Unfortunately  
for him, he had chosen that particular alley for the specific purpose  
of cutting off escape as it was a dead end. Seeing no other option, he  
dropped into a stance, incidentally proving he was the best trained of  
the bunch as well. Ranma just smiled a bit at him. As he was the  
leader, she was planning to teach him the harshest lesson of the  
bunch. Dropping into a stance of her own, Ranma motioned for him to  
attack, gaining a frown from her opponent at her arrogance. She merely  
waited patiently for her opponent to attack.  
  
The attack came much more quickly than that of the others, though  
to Ranma it was painfully slow. A front snap kick was dodged to the  
side, followed by a low sweep, which was easily jumped over, and a  
spinning back kick that was ducked under. Having sufficiently  
evaluated her opponent's skill, Ranma leapt back to buy a little room  
before waiting for him to attack again. She didn't have long to wait.  
He recovered from his kick and firmed his stance before lunging  
forward again in a jab to the face which, to his surprise, was easily  
caught. Holding his right hand in her left, Ranma stepped into his  
defenses and sent a hard, upward punch into his armpit. A load popping  
sound was heard and the man screamed in pain as his shoulder was  
dislocated from the attack. Ranma, however, only shifted her stance,  
lowering her body a little and sent her elbow straight into his groin.  
His yell increased several octaves before cutting off as she brought  
her fist up in a brutal uppercut to his chin, causing his teeth to  
slam together, cracking two of them. Letting go of his arm, Ranma  
allowed her opponent to fly backwards, before rushing after him and  
slamming her fist in his face, speeding his decent to the ground and  
breaking his nose in the process. The man's head hit the ground with a  
sickening thud, allowing him to fall into a blissful unconsciousness.  
  
Breathing a sigh of both relief and disappointment, Ranma stood  
back up from her crouch over the man's body and straightened her  
cloths a bit before looking at the woman she had just saved. The girl  
was staring at her in what seemed to be shocked amazement as she sat  
on her knees, making no move to get up. Ranma walked over to the girl,  
kneeling in front of her and looking her over to make sure she was  
alright. She seemed physically unharmed though Ranma knew enough about  
mental trauma to know that she was probably pretty shaken up by what  
almost occurred. She laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and asked in a  
soft voice whether she was alright or not. The girl stared at her for  
a few more moments before she seemed to break from her reverie. Her  
eyes focussed on Ranma for a few moments before she answered in a  
shaky voice.  
  
"Wh...what?" She asked, obviously having missed what Ranma had  
said. Ranma wasn't too surprised by this though, as she seemed to be  
having a bit of difficulty focussing at the moment, though she was  
getting better.  
  
"I asked if you were alright." Ranma answered her, still using a  
soft voice, trying to keep her as calm as possible, knowing the girl  
was likely to freak out when she fully realized what had happened.  
It's not every day that one is nearly raped, afterall, and it was  
bound to leave her pretty shaken up. "They didn't hurt you at all, did  
they?"  
  
"No....no, they didn't hurt me. You stopped them before  
they......before they..." She trailed off and Ranma could see the  
comprehension dawn in her eyes as she fully came to realize what just  
about occurred. Her eyes widened slightly, beginning to moisten and  
before Ranma knew it, the girl was latched onto her, sobbing loudly.  
Ranma sat there, decidedly uncomfortable as the girl held her in a  
tight hug, bawling into her chest, before hesitantly putting her arms  
around her and pulling her into a comforting, if somewhat unsure,  
embrace. They stayed that way for a little while, she had no clue how  
long, before the girl's choking sobs petered out, turning into  
sniffling hiccups. A little while later, she simply sat there  
comfortably in Ranma's arms, breathing deeply as she struggled to get  
ahold of her emotions. Ranma simply allowed her all the time she  
needed. After the initial period of discomfort, more from the  
reflexive expectation of an attack than the actual embrace, Ranma  
quickly began providing what comfort she could from holding the girl  
and whispering words of encouragement. She knew the girl would be  
feeling vulnerable and needed whatever comfort she could get, so tried  
not to let her flee reflex show at all.  
  
After an indeterminent amount of time, the girl moved away from  
Ranma a bit and looked into her eyes, blushing a bit at her emotional  
breakdown. Ranma just smiled encouragingly at her, trying to show that  
she wasn't upset or embarrassed by the girl's actions. After a moment,  
Ranma decided that it would be best if they left the alley they were  
sitting in and headed towards wherever the girl was staying. Since the  
girl seemed inclined to allow her the lead, Ranma spoke up first.  
  
"Are you alright? Can you stand?" The girl answered with a quiet  
yes to both questions and Ranma proceeded to her feet before offering  
a helping hand to the girl, pulling her to her feet when she accepted.  
Ranma then offered her arm in support, which was also accepted, before  
leading her out of the alley and into the street. Turning towards her,  
Ranma spoke once more. "Where do you live? I'll walk you back."  
  
"I'm...I'm staying at the Inn. The Kasahara one." She was still  
shaken up by her ordeal and it showed when she spoke, but she was  
actually recovering fairly quickly, which impressed Ranma. She didn't  
seem like the type to have gone through anything like this before, so  
she had to be fairly strong willed to recover so quickly. Ranma  
decided that the best option was to keep making small talk to try to  
calm her down and raise her spirits a bit. On the upside, she didn't  
have to go far out of her way to drop the girl off at home, since she  
was camped just off to the side of the Inn.  
  
"Oh yeah? Are you here with parents or friends?" Ranma tried to  
keep her voice as pleasant as possible, keeping the girl as focussed  
on the conversation as possible to keep her from thinking about the  
incident in the alley.  
  
"Umm, neither." The girl answered, her voice already steadier than  
it had been. "I work there on the weekends."  
  
Ranma smiled at that answer. She was pleasantly surprised to find  
out that the girl she was escorting home worked in the same place she  
did. She seemed like a nice person, though it was hard to tell under  
the present circumstances, perhaps Ranma could befriend her and have  
someone better to talk to than the moron twins. She responded brightly  
to the girl, this time not even needing to put the cheer into it for  
her sake. "Really? So do I. I just started up this week."  
  
The girl smiled as well, her first real smile since Ranma had come  
across her, and answered brightly. "Cool! You must be Ranma, then.  
Mrs. Takani told me that you just started."  
  
"Yup, that's me. Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything  
Goes Martial Arts." Ranma stated proudly, chest puffing up slightly as  
she put on her most heroic face. The girl giggled slightly at her  
strange manner of introduction, but was still impressed by her title.  
She'd seen what Ranma had done to the boys in the alley, afterall, so  
she could attest that she was a rather good martial artist. "I never  
caught your name."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Megumi, Megumi Kasahara." Ranma smiled  
at her and Megumi couldn't help but smile in return. Then Ranma seemed  
to come to a realization and Megumi knew that she had put her name  
together with the name of the Inn. Before Ranma could ask, Megumi beat  
her to it, answering the unvoiced question. "And yes, I am related to  
the owners. They're my grandparents, that's why I work here."  
  
"Ahhh, I'd wondered." Ranma said, slightly surprised that her  
question was answered before she could ask. She figured Megumi must be  
asked that a lot. She then grinned as she recalled the kindly couple  
that had taken her and her friends in as employees so easily. "They're  
really nice people, your grandparents."  
  
"Yeah, yeah they are." They continued to chat amiably as they  
made their way into the Inn and up to Megumi's room. She had let go of  
Ranma's arm by this point and they stopped for a moment as she dug in  
her pocket for her keys before unlocking the door. Ranma intended to  
leave her at this point and head to her camp site, where Mousse and  
Ryoga were no doubt starting to wonder where she was, but Megumi asked  
her if she wanted to come in for a drink and she found herself unable  
to refuse. A look in Megumi's eyes when she asked showed that she was  
still shaken up by the whole ordeal and really needed some company.  
  
Stepping into the room, Ranma thought for a moment that Ryoga was  
going to kick her ass for spending time in a girl's room before  
deciding that even Ryoga wasn't that stupid. They were both girl's  
right now, afterall, what could they possibly do together. She looked  
around the room and found herself altogether impressed by the setup.  
It wasn't overly large, but it looked comfortable for one person. It  
had a fair-sized bed, a small table with two chairs, a lounge chair  
and a small TV. It also had an attached bathroom, making Ranma wish  
that they could have afforded to actually stay in a room rather than  
camping in the forest beside the Inn. Frankly, having to walk to the  
Inn every time she needed to use the washroom was annoying. She  
supposed it could have been worse, they could have to go in the woods,  
but that didn't make it any less annoying.  
  
Putting those thoughts aside, Ranma walked over to the chair  
Megumi offered up to her and sat down as Megumi went about boiling  
some water for tea. After boiling the water, she poured it into a  
teapot and brought it over to the table along with two cups. She than  
sat down with Ranma as they waited for it to steep and picked up the  
conversation where they had left off.  
  
"So, Ranma, you said you were here cause you ran out of money.  
What were you doing out this way in the first place?" She was really  
curious about this as it was obvious Ranma was a fair distance from  
home. If she wasn't, she would have just gone home when she ran out of  
money, instead of finding work.  
  
Ranma thought about how to answer that for a few moments. She  
didn't really want to give a lot away, especially the real reason for  
her trip, as she didn't really know Megumi. Besides, it wasn't exactly  
easy to prove the curse, considering she was stuck in her cursed form.  
She couldn't just demonstrate it for proof, so if she started saying  
things like, 'I'm journeying to find a way to turn myself back into a  
man.' or 'I'm trying to find a cure for the curse that makes me a  
woman.' Megumi was more than likely to think she was mad, and that  
would certainly stop her from making friends with the girl. So,  
instead of simply blurting out the truth as she usually did, Ranma  
actually considered what to tell her before opening her mouth.  
  
"Well, you know I'm a martial artist. I've spent a lot of time on  
the road, training in the Art. Ever since I was little really.  
Recently, I was challenged by someone and they beat me pretty badly.  
Now I have to train in order to get them in a rematch." Ranma thought  
for a moment, trying to figure out a way to tell her what all was  
going on without revealing the nature of her curse. Satisfied with  
what she had come up with, Ranma continued. "You see, she took  
something from me, something important, and I have to fight her again  
to get it back. So, me and some buddies hit the road to try and track  
her down for a rematch."  
  
"So, how'd you end up here then?" Megumi was curious about what  
the other girl could have taken, but Ranma seemed to leave it vague on  
purpose, so she decided not to push the issue. "Why aren't you still  
tracking her down?"  
  
Ranma sighed a bit, remembering the reason for their little detour  
and once again cursed her luck at being stuck with such morons for  
friends. "Well, I guess that would have to do with my fellow  
travelers: Tweedledee and Tweedledum. See, Tweedledee has the world's  
worst sense of direction, the boy could get lost in a room with one  
door, and Tweedledum couldn't see his hand in front of his face  
without his glasses on, which he refuses to wear regularly." Ranma  
sighed again as Megumi giggled at her description of her friends. She  
was pretty sure Megumi thought she was exaggerating, which of course  
she wasn't in the least, but she didn't get into that. "You see,  
Mousse, the blind one, managed to confuse his backpack with a Tanuki  
statue and didn't notice the difference until we were far enough that  
finding it again would be impossible. Of course that didn't stop Ryoga  
from trying to lead us back to it, getting us lost to the point where  
there was no way in hell of us every finding it again."  
  
Ranma looked up at Megumi as she could practically feel her  
incredulous stare. "How can anyone mistake a Tanuki statue for a  
backpack? You've gotta be pulling my leg here." Ranma smiled at  
Megumi's disbelieving stare, knowing that if she didn't know the two,  
she wouldn't believe it either. Frankly, she still had trouble  
believing what the two were capable of and she had known them for  
quite some time.  
  
"Trust me, Mousse can. He's the same guy that mistakes things like  
lamp posts and trees for the girl he's in love with." She chuckled a  
bit at Megumi's look of utter disbelief. It was obvious nothing short  
of an introduction was going to make her believe it, so Ranma just let  
the matter drop, instead continuing with her story. "Anyway, believe  
it or not, that's how he lost his pack. Unfortunately, he was the one  
carrying our money and the map to where the girl we were tracking was  
going, so we're now penniless and directionless. We know, generally,  
where she was going, but we're gonna need to start tracking her if  
we're ever gonna find her. Luckily, we came by train, while she was on  
foot, so we should be a ways ahead. It's still gonna take some major  
luck to find her though."  
  
Megumi gave her a sympathetic look as Ranma finished off her tea.  
Even if some of the story was obviously exaggerated, nobody could be  
that stupid, afterall, Ranma was bothered enough by the situation that  
most of it was no doubt true. She'd just have to get herself  
introduced to Ranma's friends sometime to find out if they really were  
like they were described.  
  
Ranma put down her empty cup and began to get up, causing a fresh  
wave of anxiety to go through Megumi. She'd been quite content to just  
sit and talk to Ranma, allowing her mind to forget about what had  
transpired earlier in the evening, but now that she seemed to be  
leaving Megumi felt the fear of earlier start to creep up on her  
again. She tried not to let it show, but was painfully aware that it  
was probably written all over her face. Ranma didn't seem to notice  
though as she stood up fully and looked at her for a moment before  
speaking. "Well, it's been nice talking with you, but I really should  
get going. It's getting kind of late, afterall."  
  
Megumi began to panic slightly. She knew it was unreasonable to  
expect Ranma, who, despite spending the past while talking to her, was  
still a complete stranger, to stay with her for the night but she  
still felt uneasy at being left alone. The only other people she knew  
here were her grandparents and Mrs. Takani and she really didn't want  
to worry either of them with what had happened earlier. Besides, there  
was something about Ranma that just made her feel safe. Perhaps it was  
the way her face seemed to show every emotion she was feeling, giving  
Megumi the impression that she was extremely truthful. Perhaps it was  
the fact that, despite not knowing each other, they had opened up to  
each other a good deal already. Perhaps it was the fact that she had  
just beat the crap out of four guys, probably saving Megumi's life and  
definitely saving her virginity. Actually, that last one was  
definitely the most likely, but Megumi wasn't really dwelling on the  
why of things so much as the fact that she just wanted Ranma to stay.  
Unfortunately, coming up with a reasonable excuse was more difficult  
than she would have thought.  
  
"Umm, well, it is pretty late. You could just, you know, stay here  
if you wanted." She could see the reluctance in Ranma's eyes as soon  
as she made the suggestion so she quickly started trying to come up  
with good reasons. "I mean, your friends might already be asleep, you  
wouldn't want to wake them. I could find some extra bedding or  
something and I'm sure that it'd be more comfortable in here than it  
would be outside. If, if you want to, of course." She finished in a  
weak voice.  
  
Ranma considered the idea for a moment. When Megumi had first  
spoken up, Ranma had almost panicked. Spending the night in a girl's  
room was a quick way to get herself killed by multiple people under  
normal circumstances. After a moment, she came to the realization,  
however, that this was hardly normal circumstances. For starters, she  
was stuck as a girl at the moment and with a girl who didn't know she  
was normally a guy. Ranma figured that fact alone should be enough to  
clue most people in that nothing was going to happen between them.  
Besides which, she was right in at least one respect. Not the bit  
about waking up Ryoga and Mousse, she couldn't care less about that,  
but it would definitely be a lot more comfortable sleeping indoors for  
a change. In the end, however, it was the look in Megumi's eyes that  
once again made the decision for Ranma. She looked nervous, afraid  
even, and it was obvious, even to one of Ranma's usually unobservant  
nature, that she was asking her to stay for reasons other than being  
generous. She wanted someone to stay with her, to keep her safe and  
let her sleep easier.  
  
Considering these things, Ranma figured that even Ryoga couldn't  
blame her for staying the night. Afterall, he had a tendency to sleep  
with Akane in pig form to comfort her, so wasn't this a lot more  
innocent? They'd only be in the same room together, afterall. Having  
convinced herself, Ranma turned her attention back to Megumi to give  
her an answer. "Sure, I'd love to stay. Wouldn't want to wake up the  
guys, afterall."  
  
Megumi knew that Ranma didn't believe that that was a real reason,  
but was grateful that she took the proffered excuse. Whatever excuse  
Ranma used was fine, so long as she was sticking around. She quickly  
set about finding bedding for her guest to use and set it up on the  
Lazy Boy. She had offered Ranma a place on the bed, it was fairly big,  
but she steadfastly refused, stating that it wouldn't be proper.  
Megumi didn't quite understand that, they were both girls afterall,  
and it wouldn't be the first time she had slept in the same bed with a  
girl, but she left it alone, figuring that Ranma was just  
uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with someone who was  
barely more than a stranger.  
  
Having set up the chair for Ranma to sleep on, Megumi headed into  
the bathroom to change into her night cloths. When she returned,  
wearing her favourite flannel pajamas, Ranma was wearing just boxers  
and an undershirt, something that Megumi found odd, but it seemed to  
fit her decidedly tomboyish attitude. She also noticed that Ranma  
wasn't wearing a bra and that there didn't seem to be one in sight. In  
retrospect, though, her guest did seem rather unencumbered in the  
chest area, which was odd given how well endowed she was and  
especially with how active she obviously was. Doing martial arts  
without a bra couldn't be comfortable. She would definitely have to  
ask Ranma how she managed it sometime. For now though, sleep called.  
  
Saying a quick good night to Ranma, Megumi shut off the lights and  
got into bed herself. She lay there for a few minutes, thinking about  
the girl sleeping on her chair. She was rather odd, but not in a bad  
way. She was merely.....different. She was so different from everyone  
else Megumi had ever met. She was so strong and powerful and yet she  
was kind and gentle and seemed possessed of a certain innocence.  
Whatever else happened, Megumi sincerely hoped they could be friends,  
she just knew that Ranma would be a good friend to have, someone who  
would be loyal for life. Glancing over at the shape that she knew to  
be Ranma Megumi spoke up quietly. "Ranma?"  
  
It was a moment before a quiet response made it her way. "Yes,  
Megumi?"  
  
A small smile made it onto Megumi's lips as she thought about all  
that Ranma had done for her tonight. "Thanks. Thanks for everything."  
  
It was a few moments before the answer came to her but when it did, it  
made her smile a bit more.  
  
"Anytime."  
  
To Be Continued.....  
  
  
Author's Note: Yeah, I know, it's another new one. I've actually been  
working at this one for a while though, ever since the idea came up in  
delphi a couple months ago. The idea was originally begun by Bretthall  
and I picked it up from there. I don't know where this story will sit  
in priority with my other stories, but I guess we'll see how well  
received it is. I also want to take a moment to thank PcSpud for  
kicking my ass in gear on a near nightly basis when it comes to  
writing. If not for him, I probably wouldn't be getting much of  
anything done. As usual, any and all C&C is not only welcomed but  
heavily encouraged. Send mail to ranikkoku@hotmail.com or drop  
messages at the guestbook of my site www.geocities.com/ranikkoku and  
I'll try to answer as promptly as possible.  
Thanks for reading  
Bob Lobster 


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